The present invention relates to a liquid lubricating tapered roller bearing device having an inner ring, an outer ring, a tapered roller and a cage, in which liquid flows into the gap between the inner ring and the outer ring from one side in an axis direction to the other side in the axis direction, and more particularly, to a liquid lubricating tapered roller bearing device that is used to rotatably support a pinion shaft of a vehicle pinion shaft support device having a pinion shaft, such as a deferential gear device, a transaxle device, or a transfer device.
In the related art, a liquid lubricating tapered roller bearing device rotatably supports a pinion shaft of a differential gear device. The liquid lubricating tapered roller bearing device includes an inner ring, an outer ring, and a tapered roller, and the inner periphery of the inner ring is fitted and fixed to the exterior of the pinion shaft of the differential gear device, while the outer periphery of the outer ring is fitted and fixed the interior of a housing of the differential gear device.
In the liquid lubricating tapered roller bearing device, oil flowing in through a liquid path from a ring gear of a differential gear device flows and lubricates from an opening at one side in the axis direction to the other opening, between the inner periphery of the outer ring and the outer periphery of the inner ring, thus preventing seizure from occurring in the outer ring, the inner ring and the tapered roller.
However, in the liquid lubricating tapered roller bearing device, while it is possible to prevent seizure from occurring in the outer ring, the inner ring and the tapered roller by the circulation of oil, the oil flows between the inner ring and the outer ring from one side in the axis direction to the other side in the axis direction, and the oil is appropriate for preventing seizure in coupled portions of various gears such as a ring gear or a side gear and has a higher viscosity than oil for lubricating a bearing. Therefore, problems are found in that agitation loss of the tapered roller bearing device increases and a rotation torque of the liquid lubricating tapered roller bearing device is unavoidably increased. In this respect, there is a demand for a liquid lubricating tapered roller bearing device capable of reducing a rotation torque and improving fuel efficiency of the liquid lubricating tapered roller bearing device for the vehicle and the like, even though oil with high viscosity flows into the bearing device.
Patent Document 1: JP-A-11-48805